Highlights from President Obama’s immigration speech

Yesterday President Obama gave a speech on immigration reform at American University in Washington, D.C. President Obama promised that: “[the country] can create a pathway to legal status that is fair and works.” Here are some key highlights from the speech:

Undocumented immigrants:

President Obama on deportation:

“Not possible. Such an effort would be logistically impossible and wildly expensive. Moreover, it would tear at the very fabric of this nation -–because immigrants who are here illegally are now intricately woven into that fabric.”

Nonetheless, the President did not call for putting an end to deportation raids, an extremely pressing issue in our community.

He did recognize that undocumented workers are often exploited due to their legal status. He acknowledged that many get paid below the minimum wage, work at jobs where employers violate safety rules, and some do not report crimes due to fear of deportation. He also said that having an undocumented community hurts the economy because “billions in tax revenue are lost” because they are “paid under the table.” Nevertheless, the President mentioned at least twice in his speech that the country welcomes the “best and brightest” immigrants, which seemed a criticism of the many undocumented immigrants who don’t have high education levels and work primarily blue collar jobs.

Although in his speech the President affirmed his support for immigration reform, he said that undocumented immigrants should be held accountable for breaking the law. For their “eventual inclusion” in immigration reform, immigrants:

“Must get right with the law before they can get in line and earn their citizenship— not just because it is fair, not just because it will make clear to those who might wish to come to America they must do so inside the bounds of the law, but because this is how we demonstrate that being — what being an American means.”

President Obama elaborated on this concept of “getting in line” by talking about paying fines. This obviously poses issues for low-income immigrants, who already pay huge fees to get to the United States and earn less than other workers.

Arizona law:

The President called the Arizona’s SB 1070 racial profiling law “ill-conceived and divisive.” Indeed, the Obama administration is expected to file a suit against Arizona. In his speech he pointed out to the racial profiling that Arizona-like laws, “[they] have the potential of violating the rights of innocent American citizens and legal residents, making them subject to possible stops or questioning because of what they look like or how they sound.”

DREAM Act:

The President affirmed his support for the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act is a bill that would allow many undocumented Latino students (and other immigrant youth) who have lived in the country for more than five years to obtain a path to citizenship through college attendance or military enrollment.

Even though the President acknowledged that completely sealing the U.S.-Mexico border is not feasible, he reaffirmed his commitment to “securing” the border. President Obama was referring to his last month request of $600 million for border security to Congress. He has directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Janet Napolitano, to “to improve our enforcement policy without having to wait for a new law.” In his speech, nevertheless, there was no reference to the Mexican teen Sergio Adrian Hernandez Huereka, who was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent at the Mexican side of the border, or the constant claims by immigrant women of physical and sometimes even sexual abuse from of U.S. Border Patrol officers.

Finally, the President did not set a timeline for Congress to address immigration reform, meaning the waiting game continues for action. Millions of undocumented immigrants will continue to live underground, facing labor exploitation and other abuses, until action is taken by our extremely polarized Congress.

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One Response

This was a great summary of Obama’s speech Susana. This is good that Mr. Obama is acknowledging the issues that our community faces and struggles with on a daily basis, but we need action and we need the Congress to start thinking of how we could resolve this.